


supervising officer j. fabre [audio transcript]

by idontknowhowtoread (heatherpotts)



Series: absconde eos [1]
Category: Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club, PBG Hardcore
Genre: Interviews, M/M, SCIENCE!, also i have reeses name as wheeler in this ao3 doesnt like that for some reason but watch out, hoes sad in this, inaccurate just in general.. but that is okay just be who you are, jeff is a meanie, just... hoo man i conceived and wrote this entire au today i hope it is decent, not really explicitly drowning but underwater scary-ness, watch out just like.. in general, we live in an observatory..., weird and probably inaccurate formatting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 15:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20548268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heatherpotts/pseuds/idontknowhowtoread
Summary: things don't just vanish. especially not entire underwater observatories, taking its entire six person crew with it.well, five of its six. the sixth sits before austin now.





	supervising officer j. fabre [audio transcript]

**Author's Note:**

> https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/06/europe/underwater-observatory-disappeared-trnd/index.html
> 
> DEADASS I saw this and I was like. instead of writing for beyond the sea like I was planning to today I will write this au that Just manifested in my brain and I have no idea if its good but.. less get it I suppose
> 
> shout out to all the terrifying underwater god entities out there... shout out... ahaha...

[>𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢]

** **

[𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 #𝟶𝟾𝟸𝟸𝟷𝟽-𝟶𝟶𝟷𝟼: “𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢”]

** **

[𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘: 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ ◼️◼️◼️, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟸𝟷𝚜𝚝, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟽. 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟸𝟷𝚜𝚝 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹, 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ ◼️◼️◼️◼️ 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 (◼️◼️◼️).

** **

𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚎𝚝𝚌., 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚞𝚋 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚜, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚊𝚝 𝟺:𝟹𝟶 𝚙.𝚖. 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟹 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍, 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.

** **

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 “𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜” 𝚋𝚢 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜. 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟸𝟸𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢’𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗.]

** **

[𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚒𝚍: 𝚒#𝟶𝟾𝟹𝟷𝟷𝟽-𝟶𝟷𝟽𝟿: 𝚓. 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 (𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝟶𝟸/𝟸𝟷/𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹)

** **

𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎: ◼️◼️◼️◼️ ◼️◼️◼️◼-◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼ ◼️◼️, ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ 𝚠𝚊, ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ 

𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑: 𝟷𝟹 𝚏𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟿 

𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎: 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕: (◼️◼️◼️) ◼️◼️◼️-◼️◼️◼️◼️-◼️◼️◼️◼️]

** **

[𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠: 𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟹𝟷𝚜𝚝 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟽 

𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠: ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎 

𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢: 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 ( ◼️◼️◼️) 

𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍: 𝟿:𝟺𝟻:𝟶𝟼 𝚙.𝚖.

𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍: 𝟷𝟶:𝟶𝟷:𝟺𝟸 𝚙.𝚖.

𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝: 𝚗/𝚊 

𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢: ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️]

** **

[(𝚞/𝚒): 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 

(𝚙𝚑): 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 

(_[𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎] _): 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚝]

** **

[>𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎]

Blue. That was all Jeff could process at first, just blue. 

** **

Staring up at blue, painting a ceiling that had once been pristine, clinically white. Low lights along the walls allowed for the color, for this was a depth that seldom allowed for any light at all. But this was an exception. This_ place _ was never meant to be flooded. 

** **

He liked blue, quite a lot. 

** **

He had always seen the tranquility of it, the beauty to it; the shades of depth, the light filtering in ethereal beams from the surface, the sense of being surrounded, belonging. 

** **

It wasn’t always like this; comfortably numb, seeming mostly incapable of moving, pinned to the smooth, perfectly clean floors by the weight of the water, simply observing, _ being. _Air of no concern. 

** **

He couldn’t say he was complaining. The smooth floors had the quality of a mound of soft blankets and pillows, leaving him motionless but giving the sensation of eternally sinking deeper. Not quite warm, but comfortably numb, comfortably smothered. 

** **

He wondered if he was dead. That would make sense, if a bit bleak. Eternally staring up at the sky, eyes unseeing or closed still managing to watch. He couldn’t have chosen a better place to die, if this was it. He liked all the blue. 

** **

But slowly, a bit of feeling returned to his limbs, a buzzing of electricity through his veins. Maybe not dead yet. There came a slightly less comfortable numbness in his chest, flickers of what vaguely resembled the stinging of saltwater in his eyes. The pressure lessened slightly, something that he almost missed, but it allowed him to take a breath.

** **

Breathing in water was never a pleasant sensation; Jeff couldn’t even say this was his first time. But this still had that foggy numbness coating his senses, and the water was cool and sharp as it filled his chest, still somehow subconsciously welcomed.

** **

Still experimentally, he breathed out, pushing the water out of his chest accompanied by bubbles tiny enough to easily miss; what had to be the very last of his air.

** **

Another breath in; he could get used to this.

** **

More electricity filled his muscles, in accordance with his breaths, whatever that was doing for him. Feeling returned to his fingertips, his palms, his wrists, his arms, and it was cold, but he felt as if he was in his element. He was, wasn’t he?

** **

Slowly, he raised his hand, waving back and forth, feeling the presence and resistance of the water, but still cutting through with an unusual sharpness.

** **

It felt good.

** **

He lowered his hand, and it landed on top of another. He couldn’t move his head to look quite yet, but he felt over the new hand and just _ knew _ who it belonged to. The long, slender fingers, precision, _ music _ in his bones, a palm that Jeff’s hand fit into _ perfectly. _A silver band around his ring finger that matched Jeff’s. 

** **

The hand closed around Jeff’s, comfortable pressure like that of the waves themselves.

** **

He could _ definitely _ get used to this, if Luke was here.

** **

It would take a while to fully come to their senses, the electric buzzing spreading and finally allowing them to swim with an _ unnatural _ sharpness; but Jeff didn’t feel like he had wasted a second. He had always loved being surrounded by blue, had always wanted to stay down for longer; and _ fuck, _Luke looked gorgeous painted in it. 

** **

He didn’t know what had happened to him, to _ them; _ fuck, it wasn’t even just him and Luke, it was _ everyone, _ and he could barely remember what had happened before, why exactly it was that the observatory had been flooded, but he just didn’t _ care. _ He was able to move with a swiftness he had only dreamed of, _ with _ the man he loved, _ in _ the place he loved the most, tranquil and joyful and _ able to breathe. _

** **

This so easily could have been a dream, if he wasn’t feeling every spark, every bit of the pressure surrounding him, and he fucking loved it. If something wanted him, _ them _ to do something, it would have to wait. 

** **

They could have this, for the long moment they did. It was okay. They were fine. Alive, breathing, swimming. 

** **

The surface couldn’t be _ that _far away, anyway.

** **

[>𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢]

** **

[𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠]

** **

_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖, 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢. 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜.] _

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛… 𝚏𝚊-𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚢? (𝚙𝚑) 𝚞𝚑, 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐.

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚑𝚎𝚢.

** **

_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎, 𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚕𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍.] _

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚑𝚘𝚠’𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝚒𝚜- 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊-𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚢 (𝚙𝚑) 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚝? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝚒’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚒 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜.

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜- 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜.

** **

_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎.] _

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚒- 𝚒’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎. (𝚞/𝚒) 

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚜𝚘… 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢?

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒- 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚒’𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ ◼️◼️◼️◼️ 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎, 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜. 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜… 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹, 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔.

** **

_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝, 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝] _

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚢𝚎𝚙, 𝚏𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚠𝚑𝚢’𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠? 

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎? 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊, 𝚞𝚑… 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚜𝚝, 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝- (𝚞/𝚒) 𝚒… 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍, 𝚞𝚖… 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚒𝚝’𝚜… 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢, 𝚗𝚘, 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚛… 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎, 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢’𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢 𝟷𝟶𝟷 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎- 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚞𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚢’𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠?

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚠𝚑𝚘’𝚜 𝚠𝚎? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒𝚝’𝚜- 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎.

** **

_ [𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚕𝚢, 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.] _

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜… 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚗, 𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜𝚎, 𝚒𝚊𝚗… 𝚘𝚑, 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌é, 𝚜𝚘 𝚎-

** **

_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.]_

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚋? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚢. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚘𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢, 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ ◼️◼️◼️◼️ 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢, 𝚒… 𝚐𝚘𝚍, 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚢𝚎𝚝… 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.

** **

[>𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎]

** **

The calm, clinical and professional quiet of the observatory was doomed from the minute they were all assigned to it. 

** **

The second Jeff stepped out into the air, the last of the three duos to make it, he was immediately bombarded with noise; one gleeful conversation right in front of them, gazing out through the window into the barely illuminated abyss, another bickering one from further away, the sound of the waves, the engines, the squeaking of their soaked suits, and for some reason, Britney Spears playing distantly in another room. 

** **

“I- This is just _ incredible, _ I- I haven’t even seen the toy room yet, and what all the readings say and- Hey Jeff and Luke- Just, holy _ fuck, _this place is amazing!” Reese rambled, pacing back and forth before the window, occasionally rushing towards it like she was trying to break it and pressing herself up against it.

** **

“Why do I get the feeling that your husband is never going to see you again?” Ian chuckled, cupping his face in his hands, but it was clear that he was just as elated as Reese.

** **

“Well, if he wants to come down here, with permission from admin, he’s welcome anytime,” Reese beamed, giggling and practically jumping in place like a child. “But otherwise, he can wait.”

** **

Jeff looked back at Luke, taking Luke’s hand into his own, still wet. 

** **

“Whatcha’ think?” Jeff asked, quieter than he had really intended, already intimidated and simply in awe of the facility. Luke sighed, visibly struggling to come to a conclusion within himself.

** **

“Just… It’s just crazy, that we’re all here. It’s… amazing,” Luke muttered, not portraying nearly as much confidence in his voice as he might have liked. Jeff squeezed his hand, smiling a bit wider.

** **

“Nervous?” Jeff teased, attempting to draw upon the muse of the sharks that they had studied, but realizing later that he had probably just looked like an overexcited guppy.

** **

“Nah, not really. Just excited.” Luke grinned back, and that was all they really got before another interruption kicked open the door nearby, Britney now playing even louder from within the room.

** **

“Okay, _ guys. _ Colleagues. Fellow researchers. _ Important _ question,” Dean announced, hurrying over towards the window near Reese and Ian. “_Theoretically, _of course, do y’all think we’re gonna find Nessie or Cthulhu first?”

** **

“Nessie, _ obviously,_” called his bickering partner, running his hands through his hair as he came out to join them. 

** **

“What- That’s the thing, we’re not in fucking Loch Ness, _ Mcjones!” _

** **

“Well, okay, are we talking _ Nessie _Nessie or Nessie-adjacent?” Ian asked, so instantly willing to come along for the ride that Jeff couldn’t help but laugh.

** **

“_Exactly, _Ian, Nessie-adjacent! There’s no difference, honestly!” 

** **

“Wh- Well, still!” Dean sputtered, clearly and ridiculously passionate, but not quite to the point where Jeff didn’t notice how he kept _ looking _at his colleague. “Isn’t it still-”

** **

“Don’t you have to summon Cthulhu for him to care about you at all?” Ian interjected, almost sending Dean into some sort of frenzy, his face burning red.

** **

“Yeah, we’d have to bring that up with admin if we wanted to summon him, wouldn’t we?” Reese added, not even as a joke, seemingly. 

** **

“It’s gotta say something about no summoning evil cosmic entities in company policy,” Luke giggled, elbowing Jeff in the side, eliciting a weak, chuckling protest.

** **

“W- Well, doesn’t mean he _ has _ to care about us, never said he couldn’t be _ Cthulhu-adjacent, _ I’m just saying we’re more likely to find _ him _ because, I don’t know, he’s _ bigger, _and he lives here-”

** **

“You’re telling me we’re more likely to just _ find _ Cthulhu, because he’s _ bigger?” _Mcjones guffawed, a glint of fondness in his eyes that Jeff was pretty sure he hadn’t meant to let slip.

** **

“Yes! Exactly, Mcjones!”

** **

“So you’re telling me we had the same chance of _ just stumbling upon _ Cthulhu in Texas, are you?”

** **

“Wh- No! You had it, and then you didn’t!” Dean wailed, maybe a bit more distressed than was comfortable. “I’m saying _ he lives here,” _ Dean enunciated, motioning wildly with his hands in an attempt to support his point. _ “Therefore-” _

** **

“Did you hit your head on something on the way down here? Or did you just try to hold your breath for too long?”

** **

_ “Can you f-” _

** **

“I don’t think I’ve ever read any Lovecraft, actually, so don’t really know what I’m talking about,” Ian interrupted, trying feebly yet valiantly to steer the conversation away. 

** **

“Seriously? You went for deep sea exploration and you’ve never read up on your Lovecraftian horrors?” Mcjones replied, frequently glancing back at Dean who seemed seconds away from boiling over, Mcjones seeing ready to defend himself in an instant.

** **

“Wasn’t that guy, like, super racist?” Reese mentioned, that bubbly grin never truly leaving her face, almost seeming to cheer for them to fight.

** **

“Yeah! He _ was _super racist! That-” Dean exclaimed, taking exactly two seconds to completely run out of steam. “I… Have no idea where I was gonna go with that!”

** **

Jeff had to hold onto Luke to keep from falling over laughing at that.

** **

Somehow, so quickly, in this observatory of relatively small size, they felt like a family. They had all known each other before, been in a room alone, all together, but it was the observatory that truly made it feel like they were home. 

** **

It _ was _home, for them. In the end, that’s what it became.

** **

[>𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢]

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚜𝚘, 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢: 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚘𝚍, 𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚋, 𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚜- 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌é, 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎. 

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚊𝚑, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚊𝚗𝚍… 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎. 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: (𝚞/𝚒) 𝚜𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚠? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟸𝟷𝚜𝚝, 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢. 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚝.

** **

_ [𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚙, 𝚊𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐.] _

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖? 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝?

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚞𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎. 

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎. 

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜? 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗?

** **

_ [𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚊𝚠 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍, 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.] _

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎. 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎.

** **

[>𝚙𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎]

** **

They weren’t alone.

** **

They had known that all along; they had always known there was life at the bottom of the sea.

** **

But knowing they weren’t _ alone _ on such an equal, unequivocally _powerful _ way was just _ mind blowing. _ They all had each other, but now they had something outside the confines of the observatory, something new, something incredible, something _ revolutionary, _ something _ deeper _than they ever could have imagined. 

** **

Once they had all found each other again, regained control of their bodies, accepting that yes, they were all underwater, yes, they could all still breathe, no, this was probably not supposed to happen, but _ fuck yeah, _was it cool, they had vaguely signed at eachother what they wanted to do, which led to Jeff being the first to leave the observatory itself. They didn’t need the subs at this point; for all they knew, they could have been flooded too. But Jeff, with Luke, always his keeper, and Dean, ever the adventurous at his heels, came outside to find the observatory…

** **

Not where it was supposed to be.

** **

Maybe there was a surface up there _ somewhere _ when Jeff looked up, but _ damn, it was far. _ The observatory was meant to be in _ way _deep, but not even this far, and definitely not this far from the shore. The lights inside the conservatory painted everything a gentle blue, but outside, all there was was black. 

** **

Black abyss, with something lurking in it. 

** **

Something a lot like them; just a lot bigger.

** **

It reminded Jeff of Dean and Mcjones’ quarrel on the first day at the observatory; could this be more likened to Nessie or Cthulhu, Jeff had no idea. But it was big, and shadowy, and strange, and when Jeff swam towards it with a hand outstretched, it did the same.

** **

Their fingers- what Jeff could only assume was its fingers, or a mimicry of them- touched, sending waves of electricity, _ power _ through Jeff’s systems, and as their palms met, Jeff felt as if he could swim up straight to God and kill him, swim down straight to hell and take the throne, like he was a part of something so much bigger and stronger than he ever could have been _ alive, _ and he never questioned it once. It felt _ amazing. _

** **

It- Jeff still wasn’t sure what to call it, even if their minds were linked, but he liked calling it the observer- wanted something from him. From _ them, _and Jeff was in no position to refuse.

** **

It wanted more. 

** **

More life, more death, more depth. And if this was what life at the bottom of the sea would be like for _ everyone _ he dragged down, tranquil yet electric, comfortingly surrounded yet free, Jeff was _ happy _to do it.

** **

Even if it involved just a _ little _bit of deception. They weren’t so different, anyway. This was the same old business, just a new employer. 

** **

And so, with a quick explanation and a goodbye, Jeff swam to the surface.

** **

[>𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢]

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒’𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢? 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔? 

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛? 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚒’𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜 𝚐𝚘, 𝚊𝚝 ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️-◼️◼️◼️◼️, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍, 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢? 

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑. 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚒𝚝? 

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚘𝚑, 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝?

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚗𝚘, 𝚒 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚒 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚌𝚓𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜’ 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞... 

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝. 

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 𝚖𝚌𝚓𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜? 

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚐? 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛. 

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠’𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚝𝚘𝚘? 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚢, 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐? 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢- 

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚒𝚝. 

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝-

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_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚞𝚙, 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚔. 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚑.] _

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚑𝚎’𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚞𝚙, 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚒𝚝?

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_[𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐.]_

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𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜, 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚋𝚜.

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_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛.] _

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𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚒 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝. 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛. 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝? 

** **

𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎: 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒’𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛. 𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

** **

_ [𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚜𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.] _

** **

𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎: 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎? 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎...

** **

_ [𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚟𝚎. 𝚍/𝚜𝚐𝚝. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚜.] _

** **

[𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠]

** **

It wasn’t a lie; they could all call Jeff anything but a liar.

** **

Although, truth is, nobody was calling him much of anything, down at the observatory.

**Author's Note:**

> "when I seen a marine biologist I floor it" -the observer


End file.
